Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $200.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price trimmed by Cantor Fitzgerald from $220.00 to $200.00 in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Progressive from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Progressive from $205.00 to $198.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Progressive in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Progressive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Progressive from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.11.

Progressive Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE PGR opened at $217.28 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $126.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.27. Progressive has a one year low of $189.20 and a one year high of $254.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $214.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.46.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The insurance provider reported $5.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.64 by $1.03. Progressive had a net margin of 12.84% and a return on equity of 32.92%. The business had revenue of $23.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Progressive will post 17.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Progressive’s payout ratio is 2.01%.

Insider Activity

In other Progressive news, insider John Jo Murphy sold 8,124 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.70, for a total value of $1,727,974.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,782,595.70. This represents a 16.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey D. Kelly sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.33, for a total value of $1,514,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,877,376.18. This trade represents a 23.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 82,224 shares of company stock valued at $17,416,438 over the last three months. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Progressive

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its position in Progressive by 14.2% during the second quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 3,298 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 858.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 54,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,870,000 after acquiring an additional 48,666 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Progressive by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,784,205 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,482,010,000 after acquiring an additional 410,326 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 29,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,351,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Progressive by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 17,599 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.34% of the company’s stock.

About Progressive

Progressive Corporation is a large U.S.-based property and casualty insurer that primarily underwrites personal auto insurance along with a broad suite of related products. Its offerings include coverage for private passenger automobiles, commercial auto fleets, motorcycles, boats and recreational vehicles, as well as homeowners, renters, umbrella and other specialty P&C products. Progressive also provides claims handling, risk management and related services to individual and commercial policyholders.

The company distributes its products through a mix of direct channels—online and by phone—and an extensive independent agent network.